“It ain’t good for basketball if the Brooklyn Nets win”: Stephen A. Smith takes a dig at Kyrie Irving’s part-time availability as a player

ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith believes the Brooklyn Nets winning the championship doesn’t set a good precedent for the league.

The Brooklyn Nets are currently one of the top contenders to win the east, especially with Kyrie Irving returning to the lineup even though it’s for road games. The Nets are currently tied with the Miami Heat at the second seed in the eastern conference.

With James Harden finding his groove back, Kevin Durant leading the league in scoring, and a returning Irving, the Nets have an offensive powerhouse. Recently, NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith spoke about how the Nets winning the championship this season would be bad for basketball.

The Nets organization’s decision to allow Irving to return to camp has led to heavy criticism. Team owner Joe Tsai had recently stated the following.

“My only religion is to win games and win the championship.”

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Smith believes having Irving as a part-time player and his teammates endorsing it sets a bad example for the NBA.

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t root for the Brooklyn Nets to win the championship.

Smith has been very vocal about his opinion on Irving’s anti-vaccination stance. The First Take analyst has even gone as far as calling the former champion selfish, accusing him of leaving his team hanging. Though Smith had received a lot of criticism for his comments on Irving, the former never budged from his stance.

During a recent segment on ESPN, Smith addressed why the Nets winning a championship gave the league a bad look.

“It ain’t good for basketball if the Brooklyn Nets win. You got a part-time player, you got players endorsing a part-time player, you got an owner compromising his own principles and going against his initial beliefs, his original beliefs because he is chasing wins. If you’re not available for all the games if you’re healthy and you can play and there is something compromising your willingness to be a part of these games. I’m sorry, it’s not a good thing for you to be just playing games on the road, it’s not good a thing for you to wait until the playoffs to get the vaccine, it’s not good for you to be a part-time player. That sends a bad message, it makes the league look bad. And as far as I’m concerned, I’m not one that roots against somebody of high caliber and quality like James Harden and Kevin Durant. It is impossible to root for a team that’s doing this kind of stuff or celebrating this kind of nonsense.”

“It ain’t good for basketball if the Brooklyn Nets win. … You got a part-time player, you got players endorsing a part-time player. … That sends a bad message. It makes the league look bad. ”

—@stephenasmith pic.twitter.com/bwmCvIRG0J

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 15, 2022

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Smith does make some valid points as any player getting special treatment sets a bad example in the locker room. At a time when the world is dealing with a pandemic, one should keep the interest of others in mind as well.